Southeast volleyball drops match to SIU

~ Injured Setter Sarah Barth returned to the Redhawks' lineup in a loss to the Salukis

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team dropped a match but regained the services of a key player.

Senior setter Sarah Barth saw her first action in nearly six weeks during Tuesday night's 25-23, 17-25, 25-19, 25-18 loss to visiting Southern Illinois.

While admittedly rusty, Barth said it was nice finally to be back on the court.

"It was really fun to be back on the court with the girls," said Barth, who played sparingly in three of the four games. "My senior year, I really wanted to get back."

Barth earned preseason all-Ohio Valley Conference honors this year after ranking second in the OVC in assists during the 2008 campaign.

But in the seventh match, against Mississippi during a tournament hosted by Georgia Tech, Barth suffered a broken left wrist while diving for a ball.

Barth sat out the next 13 matches, including all 10 OVC contests Southeast has played so far, before finally returning to practice Monday.

"It's nice to have two setters in practice," Southeast coach Renata Heard said. "We'll actually be able to have both sides of the net going for the first time in six weeks.

"It's like a football team playing without a quarterback on both sides."

While Barth's return will help Southeast at practice and also provide depth during matches, Heard emphasized that Barth will not automatically be handed back her starting job.

Junior Kelly Benacka replaced Barth despite never having played setter before and has performed well.

"It's great having Sarah back, but Kelly's doing a nice job," Heard said. "They'll have to battle for that position. It won't be handed to her."

Barth said she has been impressed with the job Benacka has done in her absence.

"Kelly has done fabulous. She has stepped up," Barth said. "I'm so proud of her."

Barth wants to help the Redhawks as much as possible as she tries to salvage something from her senior season.

"I want to help give us a late push," Barth said. "It's just nice to be back playing again."

Southeast (8-13) battled SIU (14-6) as the squads split the first two games before the Salukis took control with big early leads in the final two games.

Senior Karleigh DeLong, among several Southeast players who have battled injuries, powered home a match-high 19 kills. She added 15 digs for a double-double.

Junior Emily Hughes had 13 kills.

Senior Molly Davis, sixth nationally in digs per set, recorded a match-high 27 digs.

Benacka had 40 assists and 14 digs. She leads Southeast with 11 double-doubles.

Senior Amanda Rickhoff added 17 digs and junior Claire Keaton, who also has missed plenty of time with an injury, contributed 13 digs.

Junior Jennifer Berwanger paced SIU with 17 kills and 21 digs.

Southeast, 4-6 in the OVC, returns to conference play Friday at Tennessee State.